At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band formed in 1994 in El Paso, Texas. Their last line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums), and Keeley Davis (guitar, vocals). After several early line-up changes, the band solidified into a five-piece, consisting of Bixler-Zavala, Rodríguez-López, Jim Ward (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Hinojos and Hajjar.
At the Drive-In released three studio albums and five EPs before breaking up in 2001. Their third and final album before the split, 2000's Relationship of Command, received several accolades and is cited as a landmark of post-hardcore, alongside producing the successful single "One Armed Scissor". Following the breakup, Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López formed the Mars Volta with Ward's cousin Jeremy, while Ward, Hinojos, and Hajjar formed Sparta; Hinojos would later leave Sparta for the Mars Volta.
At the Drive-In reunited in January 2012 and played the Coachella and Lollapalooza festivals that year before disbanding again. In 2016, the band reunited for a second time, with Ward replaced by Sparta's Keeley Davis; they released the album in•ter a•li•a the following year. The band announced an indefinite hiatus in November 2018.
History
1994–97: Formation and Acrobatic Tenement
At the Drive-In was founded in 1994 in El Paso, Texas, by guitarist Jim Ward and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The band played its first live show on October 14, 1994, at The Attic in El Paso, followed by a show on the 15th at the Loretto High School Fair. They released the EP Hell Paso in November 1994. Following Hell Paso release, the band members embarked on their first tour – a 2,000-mile trek across Texas. After a drummer change due to Bernie Rincon's death, At the Drive-In released its second EP ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! in June 1995. The band then set out on another tour, this one in a newly purchased 1981 Ford Econoline and spanning 42 days and 10,000 miles across the United States. During these tours, At the Drive-In began developing a large underground following by mostly playing in basements and small venues across the western United States, with their popularity spread by word of mouth among fans. One such show that changed the course of history for the band was in a now defunct bar in Los Angeles, where the band put on an explosive performance for just nine people – some of them employees of the Flipside record label. The staffers were so enthralled by the show that they offered to put out At the Drive-In's debut album then and there. After accepting the offer, the band first headed out on another 21-day tour of the Southwest; they then recorded Acrobatic Tenement in Los Angeles for $600.
The album was released on February 18, 1997; the band commenced another tour of the United States, spanning 100 days (February to June 1997) and 24,000 miles. This tour included shows with hundreds of other bands such as Screw 32, J Church, AFI, Still Life, Mustard Plug, Face to Face, and Cosmic Psychos. At the Drive-In's fan base began to swell with every show it performed. Following this tour, the band members took a month's vacation before rehearsing for their next record and subsequent tour. Following the recording of Acrobatic Tenement in July 1996, the final line-up of At the Drive-In fell into place with the addition of Tony Hajjar and Paul Hinojos and with Omar Rodríguez-López moving from bass to guitar. The EP El Gran Orgo, which did not feature Ward, was released on September 18, 1997, and "showed a more melodic side of the band, but the musical depth and heartfelt emotion was never more apparent." Two days after its release, the band was in Boulder, Colorado, playing a show with Welt to kick off its next 35-day, 11,000-mile tour that also included six dates with Karp and the Young Pioneers, and one-offs with Guttermouth, the Criminals, Piss Drunks, and the Humpers.
1998–1999: In/Casino/Out and Vaya
By the time that the band were due to begin recording their second album, Flipside had stopped releasing new material and Offtime was financially unable to, "so the band figuratively approached almost every indie label they could think of" but could not find one willing to work with them. Eventually, Bob and Michelle Becker of Fearless Records saw At the Drive-In open for Supernova at a bar named Club Mesa. Despite Fearless's history of producing mainly pop punk bands, the band members "felt very comfortable with Bob and Michelle on a personal level" and a deal was signed. At the Drive-In began recording In/Casino/Out on June 3, 1998. With producer and mixer Alex Newport, the band spent four days recording at Doug Messenger's in North Hollywood and Revolver Recordings in Costa Mesa with engineer Andy Troy, and an additional two days mixing the album at Paramount in Hollywood. This album marked a notable maturation in At the Drive-In's sound and was recorded live with just a small number of overdubs. In/Casino/Out was chosen to be recorded live because, according to some sources, At the Drive-In struggled to capture the intensity and emotion of its live shows in the recording studio.
In/Casino/Out was released on August 18, 1998, although the band toured almost non-stop from July until December, playing shows with bands like Knapsack and The Murder City Devils. At the Drive-In took a couple month break until March 1999, at which point they kicked off another tour with a two-week stint with Jimmy Eat World in the United States until they headed to Europe for a six-week tour spanning eleven countries.
Upon returning to the United States, At the Drive-In played a handful of shows before returning to the studio to record the EP Vaya, which was released on July 13, 1999. The band then began another tour on July 28 at Emo's in Austin, Texas.
At the Drive-In signed with Digital Entertainment Network, known as DEN, an internet-focused entertainment company whose music division was led by music industry veteran Gary Gersh. In October of 1999, the band relocated to Los Angeles. November and December of that year saw At the Drive-In open for Rage Against the Machine, getting the chance to play arenas for the first time. Afterwards, the band toured with the Get Up Kids.
2000–2001: Relationship of Command
Recording for the band's third album, Relationship of Command, began on January 17, 2000. The recording took place at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California, with producer Ross Robinson. Relationship of Command was recorded over a seven-week period and featured Iggy Pop with minor parts on a couple of the album's songs.
While At the Drive-In was working on the album, however, DEN went under. Relationship of Command would instead be released by the Beastie Boys-founded Grand Royal, which Rodríguez-López described as "our dream come true," since the band had long admired Grand Royal and had hoped to sign to them long before being approached by DEN. The album, released on September 12, 2000, was met with critical acclaim.
In addition to touring worldwide in Europe, Japan, and the United States following the release of Relationship of Command, At The Drive-In performed on several television shows. The band's first nationally televised performance was on Farmclub, a now defunct television show which aired late at night on the USA Network. After that performance, they also appeared on Later with Jools Holland, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with David Letterman. Additionally, the minor hit "One Armed Scissor" had circulation on MTV and significantly contributed to the band's popularity. By 2002, Relationship of Command had sold 273,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
2001-2009: Break-up and other projects On November 12, 2000, the band's touring van skidded out of control on ice and flipped onto its roof. Though the accident left the band shaken, none of the members sustained serious injury; Hajjar and Bixler-Zavala were taken to the hospital for minor injuries but released soon after. In January 2001, At the Drive-In traveled to Australia for the Big Day Out festival. While performing at the festival in Sydney, they told the audience to calm down and observe the safety rules against moshing; when the audience did not cease moshing, Bixler-Zavala told them, "You're a robot, you're a sheep!" and bleated at them several times before the band left the stage after only three songs. "I think it's a very, very sad day when the only way you can express yourself is through slam-dancing", he proclaimed. The following month, At the Drive-In cancelled the last five dates of its European tour, citing the "complete mental and physical exhaustion" of the members.
In March 2001, less than a month away from a United States tour set to begin on April 14, At the Drive-In announced an indefinite hiatus at the height of their popularity thus far. The band had played their final show of the preceding world tour on February 21, 2001, in Groningen, the Netherlands. Rodríguez-López said: "After a non-stop six-year cycle of record/tour/record/tour, we are going on an indefinite hiatus. We need time to rest up and re-evaluate, just to be human beings again and to decide when we feel like playing music again." However, in 2002 Hajjar stated that the band had split for good, with the idea of this being a temporary hiatus "just press crap".
Though many of his bandmates cited exhaustion due to excessive touring as the main factor behind At the Drive-In's dissolution, Rodríguez-López instead pointed to creative differences: "we broke up at least three or four other times before we finally broke up. There were three or four times where I or Cedric or Cedric and I both talked about leaving the group because our desires were so different [from the rest of the band]." Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López had stated that they wanted their next album to sound like Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López subsequently focused on their dub side project De Facto, which also included Ward's cousin Jeremy Ward, before forming The Mars Volta. Jim Ward, Hinojos, and Hajjar formed Sparta in June 2001; Hinojos later left Sparta to join The Mars Volta from 2005 to 2009. The Mars Volta disbanded in 2013, and Rodríguez-López went on to play with Bosnian Rainbows while Bixler-Zavala started Zavalaz. Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López eventually reconciled and formed Antemasque in 2014; The Mars Volta reunited in secret in 2019 and resumed public activity in 2022.
2009–2012: First reunion During an interview with Drowned in Sound in June 2009, Bixler-Zavala stated that he had been in discussions with the band's former members and suggested that they could get back together after they sorted out their finances. He added, "I wouldn't mind it. It might happen, we just have to iron out a lot of personal things. A lot of it we've dealt with already and I've apologized for a lot of things I've said and the way it ended... we'll see what happens." Ward quickly quashed rumors of a reunion by stating, "I don't think that I'll be answering any questions or doing any interviews anymore, thank you very much. I haven't got much to say about anything except with songs which I will continue to make and release."